The Waterbender
by Kereea
Summary: Starts right after the season finale:Seige of the North. Iroh and Zuko find a young waterbender named Ryko on an island, and Iroh decides that they should take him home. Could this talkative eight year old forge a frienship with a fire prince?
1. The Boy on the Island

I don't own avatar, but I do own Ryko!

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The Boy on the Island

"So Prince Zuko," asked Iroh, "What now?"

Zuko was adjusting the sail of the little raft, "I don't know Uncle. I can't go after the avatar now, nothing can restore my honor. My father has no doubt found out that I am the Blue Spirit."

Iroh blinked, "I thought he was a myth!"

"UNCLE!"

Iroh grinned nervously, "Well, perhaps we should stop on that island over there. We've been sailing on a raft for three days anyway."

"if I do, do you promise to just be quiet! I'm sick of you asking if I am sure that I have no tea! Zuko shouted, but there was another reason, he had to sort things out. Alone.

----

So much had happened, and yet so much was left. Zuko had never known that Iroh had thought of him as a son enough to voice it out loud, or that Zhou would defeat the moon. Zhou... why had he refused Zuko's help? To see anyone dragged under like that, even that man, was too much for the fire prince...

A small noise to his left broke Zuko's trance. He leaped up and shouted, "Who's there! Answer me!"

Zuko's uncle came up, "What is it Prince Zuko?" Zuko looked at the bushes, "There's someone there, Uncle."

Iroh thoughtfully stroked his beard, and walked forward. Zuko said, "Uncle, that might not be a good..."

"Well, what have we here?" asked Iroh brightly. A small boy in blue ran past Iroh shrieking, "Firebender!" and he crashed into Zuko and stared at him for a second, then, "Another one!" and ran into a tree.

"Well," said Iroh, "That was a nice meeting."

----

After the boy had stopped screaming, Iroh managed to get him to talk.

"I'm Ryko," he said, "and I'm eight. I'm from the North Pole, but that big water beast, remember how it made all those waves? Well, I kinda got washed away. But I'm a waterbender, so I made a bubble and floated here! I wanna go home!" he said, his blue eyes filling with tears.

"We'll take you!" said Iroh.

"Uncle, it's two days away, and that's nonstop!" said Zuko.

Iroh glanced at Zuko, "We have nothing better to do nephew, so we're going. Must I threaten you with tea?"

"We have no tea Uncle."

Iroh grinned, "Oh, I bet I can find some..."

And lo, with the threat of tea providing a reason, Zuko did agree to return Ryko to his tribe.

----

Okat, Ryko tells them all that stuff because he's semi-naive and talkative.


	2. Day One

Okay, this is going to be part of a four part series, all in one story. The first quater is called THE WATERBENDER, and it is the shortest, only 4 chappies. I don't own avatar!

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Day One

Iroh was resting, he did the night sailing, and Zuko was doing everything he knew to ignore Ryko's constant pestering. The boy followed him everywhere, even though they were on a raft so there was nowhere to go. Ryko's hair had been long and loose when they found him, and Iroh had put it in a temporary ponytail, so the boy could see past his bangs.

"What will make you shut up?" Zuko yelled.

Ryko grinned, "Talk to me!"

"Fine, fine, what do you want to talk about?

"Well, can I kinda talk about me, and then you talk about you, you know, share?" Zuko shrugged, which Ryko took as a yes, "Well, I have a brother, named Vakoi, he's like your age, and my parents got killed in that siege, but I never hung around them anyway, and I'm a waterbender, but I haven't done much training."

As Ryko panted, Zuko tried to answer all of that, or the kid would start talking again, something Zuko wouldn't risk.

"I have a younger sister, named Zula, and she's a pain, and-"

"Why is she a pain?" asked Ryko.

"She's way better than I am at firebending, and my father always rubbed it in." Zuko turned around to check the sail, and Ryko started talking quickly again.

"Oh, well, my brother's not a bender, but he's really strong, but kinda arrogant, and he never acts like I exist, and he glances at me a lot, and acts like I'm not family, but my mommy always said he was just jealous because I could bend, but she never let me go to the big bonfire meetings until I could, when I was four, I dunno why. I miss my mommy."

"I miss my mom too kid,' Zuko said quietly, and decided not to talk to this kid anymore, it was bringing up too many memories.

----

Later that night, Ryko woke up and started talking to Iroh.

"Mister Iroh, why doesn't Zuko wanna talk to me?" he asked. Iroh chuckled.

"Call me Uncle Iroh, please, I ask just about all minors who know me to, and Zuko just doesn't like talking about himself, so I would try sharing your problems, he'd rather try and solve those than share his past. It worked on the ship when we were chasing the avatar too."

----

ryko is very curious, and he's weird kid, so that;s why he's pestering Zuko.


	3. Day Two

Day Two

"Do you ever shut up?" asked Zuko. Ryko had tried asking different things today, the subject of firebending had gone well and long, but Zuko soon tried of the small bender's chatter. "Don't you have some waterbending you can do?"

Ryko started to fool with the ocean a little, then muttered, "Sorry if I kinda got on your nerves, I didn't mean to. I was just glad to have someone older to talk to I guess."

Zuko glanced over, "Yeah, I remember what you said about your brother, but it can't be that bad."

Ryko hung his head, "He's hated me since day one. I can tell he doesn't like me, but I dunno why!"

"Maybe he wanted a sister," Zuko joked dryly, but Ryko seemed to shrink at this, and the kid was small to begin with. "I didn't mean that seriously, I was being sarcastic."

"At least you're nicer than him," mumbled Ryko.

----

Iroh had been steering the ship for awhile, when he glanced at Ryko and Zuko. The little boy was leaning against the firebender, but Zuko was twisting restlessly. Zuko was dreaming about the day his mother had died, eight years ago, and it was supposed to be happy day...

_Zuko never knew much; just that he was supposed to have a new sibling. He hoped it was better than Zula, maybe a boy. But something had gone wrong, so wrong. He had been told by Zula that their mother had died, and the child was born dead. And he would never get over it..._

"Zuko!" Wake up!" yelled Ryko, "Wake up!"

Zuko's eyes shot open. Iroh and Ryko were kneeling over him, and his gray outfit was drenched with cold sweat. Ryko quietly, amazing for him to be quiet, bended the water off Zuko, and Iroh helped him sit up.

"It was a nightmare uncle! I'm fine," Zuko persisted.

"Are you sure?" asked Ryko. Zuko glanced at him, "Why do you care?"

"You're a nice guy!" said Ryko. Zuko muttered, "And you're a weird kid."

Suddenly, a spike of ice cut through the raft. Ryko yelled, "I didn't do it!"

"I did," said a voice. Zuko glanced around, and decided to risk a flame. They were surrounded by water-tribe boats. An old man with white hair said, "What are you doing here, firebenders?"

"We're taking this kid home," Zuko said dryly. Ryko blinked and yelled, "Hi Master Pakku!"

"You know this guy?" asked Zuko.

----

Apparently, the entire northern tribe was to listen to why Zuko and Iroh had decided to bring Ryko back home. Needless to say, Iroh was doing the talking.

"So we decided to bring him back," the retired general finished.

A boy with a messy brown ponytail who looked about sixteen stood and snapped, "Oh, right! What's your real reason?"

"The chief glared at him, "While you may not be my potential son-in-law anymore, I expect more form you Han!"

Zuko blinked. _So this was Ryko's brother_!

-----

Sorry, I called Han Vakoi in earlier chapers beacuse I forgot his name!


	4. End of Prart 1

The Truth is Told

The chief continued, "I know that the old man is no enemy, he tired to stop the admiral from destroying the moon, Sokka told me. I am certain that they had no evil planned. Master Pakku, perhaps you can think of a fitting punishment for his idiocy."

Pakku smiled thinly, "Yes, I believe I have a solution... since the firebenders helped Han's brother home, he owes them his brother's life. They will stay with them tonight."

"NO WAY!" yelled Han, "I owe them nothing! That little rat," he pointed at Ryko, "is not my brother, and you know it!"

Teals slowly fell from Ryko's eyes, and Zuko shot up, "You're the rat! You don't deserve a brother like Ryko!"

"You want him firebender?" shouted Han, "Well, you can have him!"

"SILENCE!" shouted the chief, "Han, firebenders-"

"Who have names," muttered Zuko.

"Master Pakku and Ryko, please come with me," the chief finished.

----

"Now, Ryko, this may come as a shock, but Han is speaking the truth. Eight years ago, you were found in the northern shrine, we assumed the spirits had something to do with it," the chief said gently. Ryko leaned on Zuko, still sobbing.

"We don't know where you're from; we also know that your true element isn't water."

Pakku spoke up, "which is why you're not a strong bender."

"Who am I?' whispered Ryko, and he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Zuko grinned, yes grinned, 'Let's find out!"

Iroh blinked, "Does this mean I get dragged around the world again?"

"If you wish, you may stay here," Pakku suggested, "My students could learn about how to defend against fire with your help."

"No way!" yelled Han and Pakku froze him to the wall immediately.

Iroh stoked his beard, "I don't know, my nephew still needs to master firebending..."

Zuko said, "I can work on my basics uncle, you keep going on how I need to learn them until they are second nature!"

"Is it that, or are you sick of my tea threats?" asked Iroh.

"Um," Zuko said, "the first one! Come on Ryko, let's find out who you are kid!"

Ryko smiled, he really felt like he had a brother, albeit a non-related one.

-----

Okay, this is the end of part one. Part2 is FINDING RYKO. It's next, and I will add action/adventure to the genre.


	5. Start of Part 2

**Finding Ryko**

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still don't own avatar. yawn.

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The Northern Earth Kingdom

"I think we're lost," Ryko said.

Zuko snapped, "We are not lost!"

"Then what are we?" asked Ryko cheekily. Zuko stopped walking, "We're... in the northern Earth Kingdom."

Ryko snickered; this was proof that they were lost. He and Zuko had been wandering for weeks, trying to see if anyone in the Earth Kingdom knew how to find out who Ryko was. So far, no luck.

At last they came upon a town. Zuko read a sign, then said, "It says that there's a fortune teller here, named Aunt Who."

"Maybe she can help us!" cheered Ryko, and the squealing made Zuko wonder why he heck he decided he needed to help this boy.

A girl in a long pink robe with long, spiky braids came out, "Do you guys want to see Aunt Who?"

"Yes..." Zuko said slowly, and he and Ryko were forcibly dragged into a building.

"Aunt Who!" called the girl, "We've got new visitors!"

An old woman with too much eye shadow came out, "Alright Meng! Sit down boys, and I shall tell your future."

Ryko asked "Can you tell my past instead?"

Who blinked, "Sure dearie, why not? Now, let's see, well, it looks like the spirits don't want to talk, nope, not at all! I'll need to try something else!"

As she started looking around the room, Meng came over, "Wow, the spirits always want to talk to Aunt Who! This could be awesome!"

Aunt Who came back with a crystal ball, "Okay, let's see what I can do with this! Ohm, ohm..."

Zuko and Ryko were almost asleep when Aunt Who yelled, "I've got it! You need to ask the spirits yourselves!"

"And why didn't you tell us that earlier!" yelled Zuko, and he grabbed Ryko and they stormed out.

Zuko sighed, "What a waste! All that ask the spirits yourselves junk was pathetic!"

Ryko nodded, "I doubt that would work, back to square one huh?"

The reply was Zuko incinerating a certain signpost.

------

Don't worry all you iroh fans1 He'll be back in part 4! It'll be about a week, i'll be updating like nutsy!


	6. Fighting for Freedom

sorry folks, but I accidentally posted 2 as one, so I had to fix it!

Fighting For Freedom

About a week later, Ryko and Zuko had ended up in a forest. Zuko had made the decision that they should stay close to the river. Even if Ryko wasn't a waterbender in truth, but until he had his true element, they could still use the basics the kid knew. This meant that Zuko got drenched whenever Ryko started practicing.

As they wound through the trees, a boy yelled, "Halt firebender! Release that young one!" A boy with short, messy hair and a long thin hook in each hand jumped down from a branch, "Let him go, Fire Nation scum!"

As Zuko struggled against incinerating the boy, Ryko said, "You know, you're lousy at first impressions."

As few more boys leaped out of the trees and surrounded Zuko, Ryko was shoved out of they way. He staggered to his feet as the apparent leader of the boys raised his hooks and said, "You'll pay for trying to destroy they world firebender!"

"I haven't tried to destroy anything!" Zuko snapped.

"Your nation has-" the leader started, but then he was whacked with a loosely bonded lump of water. Zuko took this as a cue to start fighting, with the other boys off-guard. The boy with a bow and arrow yelled to the leader, "JET! This little one's a demon!"

"What!" yelled the leader. "Longshot, you're getting your butt kicked by a kid?"

Zuko took the opportunity to rush the boy called Jet, but a large boy snagged the prince and flung him bodily to the ground. Zuko started to sit up, but Ryko was flung onto his chest by Jet.

Jet chuckled, then leaned forward, his face twisted into a snarl, "Guess what little waterbender? Those who aid the Fire Nation are no better than them! Don't worry though; even the avatar had issues with that lesson."

"Right, you met the avatar," Zuko snorted in disbelief. A little kid tried to punch Zuko, who simply blew fire in his face.

Jet barely spared the kid a glance, but said, "Are you okay Duke?" The little kid nodded, and Ryko stuck out his tongue. Jet leaned forward, "Put that away waterbender, before I decide to..." he pulled out a dagger, "_remove_ it, hmm?"

----

The boys, who were called the Freedom Fighters, has tied up and locked up Ryko and Zuko. Zuko was impressed they knew the exact way to tie up a firebender, palms facing each other. Ryko had barely managed to get some water out of the air and gotten it to freeze into a sharp spike, but it was clear that his waterbending abilities were fading. Zuko wriggled his bonds against the spike and almost had them cut when it melted into a puddle.

Zuko sighed, "Dang! Ryko, can you do it again? Just a few seconds ought to do it!"

Ryko nodded and raised his (bound) hands, and shut his eyes to concentrate. The water lifter a few inches in little streams, but did little else. As Ryko continued to try, Zuko went for his pocket, in which there was something Iroh had given him just before he left the North Pole, but was distracted as Ryko whined. Zuko glanced over. "Now what?" he asked in a tone that was a bit too harsh.

Ryko didn't notice, and looked down, "I can't waterbend!"

Zuko sighed; he couldn't even imagine not being able to bend. He thought, 'I mean, if you've never done it, like Lieutenant Ji for instance, I guess that you wouldn't miss it, but I know that my fire is a part of me, I'd hate to lose that!'

"Well," muttered Ryko, "At least maybe now we can narrow down who I might be..."


	7. Working with the facts

Working with the Facts

Zuko nodded, "I guess that we could try to use the power of deduction, not that it's something I like, mind you."

Ryko grinned, "Where first?"

Zuko thought while trying to find a sharp object on which to cut his bonds, the one in his pocket had been forgotten, "Well, I'm pretty sure now we can rule out Water Tribe completely, and Air Nomad was always out, so that leaves Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation."

"But that's more than two thirds of the world!" Ryko whined. Zuko shook his head.

"No, we know a little more than that. The spirits obviously considered you important enough to need to take you...or one of your parents actually prayed it would happen. No! No! I didn't meant that they didn't want you Ryko, don't cry, the probably just wanted you safe."

Little did Zuko know how right he was.

**Unknown Flashback**

_A woman prayed to the spirits of her nation, and of past avatars to save her new child. She did not want him to have the same fate as the other two, molded by cruel hands. She knew she had not long to live, and so begged the spirits to save this one, as only they could..._

**End flashback**

"Yes!" Zuko cheered.

"What!" asked Ryko, "Do you know?"

"Oh, what? No, I just cut through the rest of this rope though!" Zuko said, "Now hold still, and let's see if I can get rid of your ties without burning you."

----

Zuko and Ryko slipped away, and then bolted like Zhou was on their tails. Which he probably would have been, if he wasn't dead.

The skidded into a cave, well past nightfall and Ryko begged, "Can we please sleep?"

Zuko nodded, "Yeah, but let's go a little farther in." Famous last words.

As Zuko and Ryko started down the tunnel, they suddenly hit a slick patch of rock. Without warning, both boys skidded right down the tunnel, and banged headfirst into the rock face at the end. They fell unconscious instantly.

----

Ryko woozily sat up, and shook Zuko awake. The teen stretched, and then looked around, saying, "Where in Agni's name are we?"

They were in a strange forest, and Ryko pointed to a small podium, "Hey, look, a meditating monkey!"

The white baboon opened his eyes, "Go away."

Zuko shook his head, baboons didn't talk. There was only one logical explanation, and it wasn't really all that logical.

They were in the spirit world!

----

Meesa no owna Avatar.


	8. Revelations

Revelations

"We're where?" asked Ryko. The baboon muttered something about noisy kids, and said, "Will you leave already?"

"Well, that mental fortune teller said we should ask the spirits..."Zuko mused, and the baboon pointed to a little silver spark, "why don't you stupid children chase that thing?"

Before Zuko could say a word, Ryko was after the spark. Thankfully, they didn't have to run long, for the spark changed into a white haired spirit.

She said, 'I am the moon spirit, I'll help you if you do a favor for me."

Zuko looked at her suspiciously, "What's the favor?"

She held a note out, "Take this to a boy in the avatar's group, his name is Sokka."

Zuko nodded and took the note, "Alright, now what?"

She smiled, "You must find the avatars Kyoshi and Roku, they are nearby I think."

'We're right here Yue," said avatar Roku as he and Kyoshi came up. Yue nodded and vanished. "Kyoshi and I know why you two are here."

"How?" asked Ryko

The two past avatars smiled, and Kyoshi said, "Because, we know who you are."

Ryko stepped back, right against Zuko, "You, you know who I am?"

Avatar Roku nodded, "Yes, Avatar Kyoshi was the one who took you to the water tribe in the north; because we knew you would be safe there."

Ryko leaned against Zuko even harder, nearly knocking the older boy over, "Then, who am I?"

Kyoshi shook her head, "You must understand, once you know, there will be no going back. You will have to accept it, no mater how terrible."

Ryko glanced downward, and then looked at Zuko, "What should I do?"

Zuko knelt down so he was at eye level with Ryko, "I can't tell you, it's your choice. You can wonder forever, or find out who you are."

Ryko glanced at Zuko, then stepped forward, "I want to know."

The bight wind of the spirit world's wall swirled around Ryko and Zuko, but they could still hear Avatar Kyoshi sigh and say, "Very well. You are Zyko, third child of the Fire Lord."

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Dun-dun-dun-dun! I was so setting that up! R&R!


End file.
